How can you ensure you have a green Christmas without your gas and electricity bills going through the roof in the bleak midwinter.

Stourbridge energy expert Colin Priest gives some festive advice to parents and tips to children to ensure their home is Santa friendly next week.
Colin, who lives in Quarry Bank and work for Noreus Ltd, says firstly to help Father Christmas the roof needs to be well insulated so snow stays on the roof. Rudolph can then land the sleigh or pull it across the roof. Double glazed the windows keep your home free of Jack Frost so Santa can check he’s at the right house.

He said that as 60 per cent of a home’s heat is lost through the walls and roof he suggests spray foaming the attic with the environmentally friendly Icynene Insulation System, which reduces heating bills by up to 50 per cent and stops the heat escaping into the winter air. It also prevents most of the frost and condensation from collecting on the windows.
A reminder for householders who have blocked up their chimney with a Heatsaver transparent Perspex fireplace shield to stop money literally going up the chimney is that they need to remove it on Christmas Eve to ensure Santa Claus can pay a visit.

If you are waiting for a letter from Father Christmas and cards from friends it is worth investing in the British-invented Ecoflap which replaces the brush, seal and gravity flap and uses the wind to blow the letterbox shut, so saving energy.
Parents can often blow a fuse in the spring when their electricity bills arrive, particularly if they have decorated a large tree and the inside and outside of the house for the festive season. Replacing each bulb now with an eco one will save around £3 per bulb a year and if you have solar panels on your roof your bills will be even cheaper.

Through the Feed-in Tariffs scheme, which is the payment given for electricity generated from solar panels, residents receive 15.44p per kilowatt hour (Kwh) for the average home. This is topped up with the Export Tariff, which adds an extra 4.5p per KWh for electricity exported to the Grid, giving householders a return of more than 10 per cent on their capital.  
Parents who have bought a halogen oven will benefit this yuletide as it uses 75 per cent less electricity than a conventional one and can roast a Christmas turkey in less than an hour.

Even the post Christmas dinner washing up will be cheaper for those who have installed a Thermodynamic system or solar thermal system on their roof for hot water.
For those who want a Christmas present so they can reduce their bills in 2013 Colin is offering a free thermal imaging survey which shows where energy in the home is being lost.

“May I wish everyone a green Christmas and an energy saving New Year,” said Colin.
To find out more call him on 0845 474 6641.